Sonic Mania

Anyone who knows me knows that I love playing Mario games. I grew up playing his adventures and running around in his shoes, relishing every second. Anyone who really knows me however, knows that I loved Sonic the Hedgehog before I was even introduced to the Italian plumber.

Perhaps more than anything else, the games of Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Sega Megadrive as a whole, taps into my very earliest memories of playing video games in the attic with my Dad. Of all the games we owned then, Sonic was easily in my favourites and over the years I have found myself returning to his games over and over, each time rekindling warm memories of my very early years. And as cheesy as it sounds, those old Sonic games really do have a special place in my heart.

It was remarkable then, for Sonic Mania, a game released today, in 2017, to give me the same feeling as the Sonic classics. Its such a faithful and energetic reimagining of the Sonic games, its impossible not to get totally swept away if you have any fondness for the older games. I got up early to play this one, and I don't regret it at all. So perhaps I'm a little biased, but Sonic Mania had me smiling all the way through and brought back some of the long forgotten love I had for Sonic.